Category: Opinion

Sat 13 Apr 2019: BEIRUT (AP) — It’s Arab Spring, season II, and he’s one of the few holdovers. The last man standing among a crop of Arab autocrats, after a new wave of protests forced the removal of the Algerian and Sudanese leaders from the posts they held for decades. Syria’s President Bashar Assad […]

Fri 12 Apr 2019: US President Donald Trump’s decision to classify Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization has culminated the campaign of mounting pressure on Tehran. But this decision takes the confrontation to unprecedented levels and raises questions about its timing and implications. In an interview with Fox News, US Secretary of […]

Fri 12 Apr 2019: Parts of the indictment go head-to-head with basic journalistic activities protected by the first amendment, academics say The charge sheet accusing Julian Assange of engaging in criminal theft of US state secrets contains a direct assault on fundamental press freedoms and could have a devastating effect on the basic acts of journalism, leading […]

The country’s massive diversity means the Hindu nationalist leader needs to do more than threaten war with Pakistan he conventional wisdom in Delhi is that recent border clashes with Pakistan over Kashmir will help Narendra Modi win the landmark election that starts 11 April. If patriotic fervour benefits incumbent leaders, the prime minister is certainly well placed. […]

Mon 8 Apr 2019 The levelling of ancient sites in Xinjiang, alongside mass detention, is part of an attempt to destroy an entire society en years ago, I started researching Islam among the Uighurs. I spent my summers travelling around the Xinjiang region in western China. I took long bus journeys through the desert to Kashgar, Yarkand […]

The White House these days continues to discuss designating Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) as a major sponsor of terrorism. The U.S. Congress has been weighing a number of different bills proposed for this purpose. In response, Iran and its lobbies have been distorting the truth in the media by claiming such a move will lead […]

An international outcry from governments, rights groups, the UN, and numerous celebrities has been sparked, following the decision of Brunei to enact strict new Islamic laws that make being homosexual, adultery, rape, and robbery punishable by death. On a personal note, I think those condemning Brunei for enacting strict laws to contain acts she considers offensive are hypocrites or […]

Rather than making concessions to bigots, politicians must confront them. It’s the only way to end the violence n 19 April 1995, Timothy McVeigh blew up the Alfred P Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people and injuring another 684, in the deadliest act of domestic US terrorism to date. A white supremacist, […]

The centenary of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre is the right occasion for Britain to apologise for the evils of colonialism. Two years ago, on the UK publication of my book Inglorious Empire: What The British Did to India, I took the unusual step of demanding an apology from Britain to India. I even suggested the time […]

Ronnie Kasrils I was shut down in South Africa for speaking out, and I’m disturbed that the same is happening to critics of Israel now • Ronnie Kasrils was a leading member of the African National Congress during the apartheid era and former government minister s a Jewish South African anti-apartheid activist I look with horror […]